A Case of Gastric Perforation Caused by Stabbing with a Knife, Treated with Converted from a Laparoscopy to Laparotomy

Abstract

A 27-year-old female had impulsively stabbed herself in the abdomen with a knife, and came to our hospital the following morning. A definite peritoneal sign was unclear, and a CT scan revealed damage to the left abdominal rectus muscle. We decided to perform exploratory laparoscopy. The exploratory laparoscopy was, however, not adequate to scrutinize the stabbing route of the knife and show the precise damage to the abdominal organs, so we decided to convert to laparotomy. The knife had perforated all stomach walls, the mesentery of the transverse colon and the upper portion of the jejunum. We sutured both the anterior and posterior stomach walls, and the jejunal and colonic mesentery. We report hereon on this case of a stab injury to the abdomen successfully treated with conversion from an exploratory laparoscopy to a laparotomy.